International visitors – we recommend not booking flights etc until we’ve confirmed there are enough people to go ahead. We’ll do this in early August.
Improv, clown, playfulness, movement and music to open up, laugh, let go of worries and reconnect with having fun with other people.
Join us for a long weekend of restorative laughter, nature, joy and fun in the beautiful Finnish countryside.
Laughter – improv, clowning, and movement to reconnect to aliveness and enjoy the permission to be free, have fun and be silly
Healing joy – instead of “self improvement” we’ll be celebrating who we already are
Delightful surprise – get out of your own way and enjoy surprising yourself
Sharing and community – enjoy sharing and celebrating each other’s unique discoveries
Body awareness, presence and djembe drumming – awareness, rhythm, music and movement to open up from overthinking
Drawing – quiet periods of drawing, painting and writing to reflect and integrate what you’re discovering and maybe inspire some new discoveries
Nature connection – two nights’ use of the eco-village sauna plus the lake, nearby forest, nature walks and quiet of the countryside
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
Rumi
Who is it suitable for?
The weekend will be suitable for all levels of improv experience, particularly beginners. If you’re completely new to improv, play, clowning and self expression we’d love to have you. If it feels scary – we’d love to have you even more! Any nerves are pointing to the joyful, playful, laughter filled parts of yourself that are just waiting for you to get back in touch, like an old friend.
If you have more experience of improv we’d still love to have you. Between us we have 15 years of experience of improv and can find ways for you to grow and stretch. But the emphasis will be on fun, joy and community rather than working on specific skills. So come for the joy rather than for specific teaching.
Most of the teaching will be done in English (as Andy’s Finnish is, erm, not great!). We’re expecting most attendees to come from Finland, but there may be people from abroad. So you should feel comfortable using English. This does not mean you need to be fluent. Just that you’re able to converse without language being a barrier. We will not be doing any “clever” language-intensive games. We will be often using the body and self expression, many of the activities won’t use language at all.
Introverts welcome! We really enjoy being around people. And sometimes we need some quiet time too. So as well as the fun, the schedule includes quiet times for reflection, drawing, nature walks or enjoying quiet conversation.
Group size. The weekend will be for minimum six and maximum sixteen people so there will be a nice sized group.
Who Are We?
Hello!
Andy
I used to be terrified of improv But I’ve been doing it for twelve years now, and regularly teaching in person and online for the last four. I’m not the most talented performer. But after many years being stuck in overthinking and shyness, I’m so grateful for the freedom, laughter and self-expression improv has given me and love sharing it with others. You can see a short talk I gave about it here. Or browse through the blog on this website.
“If Mister Rogers, Ted Lasso, and Wallace (of Wallace and Gromit) had a baby, the result would be Andrew Cain. Andy is kind, compassionate, patient, safe, and inviting…and he’s really expanded my definition of what it means to be human. Over the course of three months, I’ve cried, laughed, smiled, and surprised myself more than I ever thought possible. What started as a mission to lighten up instead turned into a deep acceptance of self. I’m not perfect, and that’s OK. And as Andy points out, that might even be what makes me amazing. Thank you, Andy.”
Kathy Tagudin, Mind-Body Specialist, Orlando FL
“This week I hosted my first, “Inner Play Lab,” where I helped others play around with different ways of defusing our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and judgments. It’s had rave reviews!!! Your class helped me to have the confidence to be spontaneous, to tolerate being in the space of the unknown, and feel into what’s alive in the moment – and in doing so, you are helping me to support others in doing the same.”
Kati, Psychotherapist, USA
Maria
I’m Maria and I have been doing improv in Andy’s gentle guidance for about 3 years. Improv has opened a whole new world of shared joy, laughter, fun, spontaneity and confidence for me. My professional background is in art therapy, with additional studies in e.g. music therapy and embodiment coaching. I like to combine presence and body awareness practices to drumming and creative art processes
“Maria guided me gently and professionally, respecting me. She took my thoughts into account every time and created a nice atmosphere where I could be at peace with even difficult thoughts and bodily sensations.”
H.K. Coaching customer feedback
“Maria is a reliable and cordial coach. Body awareness brought something new to the sessions – in addition to just fiddling, I got to experience bodily how something feels, how I react to it and what helps me move forward – functional! Thank you Maria for these times and I think I’ll be back when I need to..”
Pia Kantokari
“I was able to fully immerse myself in the artistic process, and I feel that it helped how sensitively you take into account both individual and group dynamics, and your calm and supportive presence. I felt that the session was surprisingly enlightening and allowed for interesting self-reflection.”
We will start from 4pm on Thursday 5th September and finish 4pm on Sunday 8th September.
How to get there?
Keuruu Ecovillage is situated 8 kilometres from a small town of Keuruu. You can travel to Keuruu easily by train or by bus from all over Finland.
If you are coming from abroad, you might fly to Helsinki or to Tampere and take a train to Keuruu. It will take a little while to get there – about 2 hours from Tampere and 4 hours from Helsinki. So enjoy the journey.
Finnish trains are spacious, fairly regular, go through beautiful scenery and are very cheap! VR doesn’t mean Virtual Reality. It means Finnish Railways 🙂 You can find train information on the VR website https://www.vr.fi/en
There is regular train from Tampere to the Keuruu. Details here.
Tampere has its own airport and is only 2 hours by train from Helsinki.
September is a wonderful time to visit Finland: Autumn colours, lingonberry picking (and mushrooms if you know what you’re doing), bear watching further north, and a medium chance of seeing some Northern Lights.
About Keuruu Ecovillage
You can read about the Ecovillage, where Maria lives full time, on their website here.
The ecovillage for across the lake, the house we can use, the view from its porch and the lake next to the sauna
Costs
Classes and accommodation need to be booked separately.
Classes
Approx 18 hours of improv, clowning, drawing, movement and body awareness over three days
Accommodation and meals must be booked separately with Keuruu Ecovillage. Food is vegetarian. There are a limited number of single rooms available. Shared room and single room prices include sheets and towels.
Three nights’ accommodation, use of sauna and nine meals booked separately with the Eco-village are
Camping – €110
Shared room – €155
Single room – €215
If you live locally and would like to stay off site, meals only are €80
We understand plans change. And to cover our costs – and the group a fun size – we need a minimum number of six people to attend.
If we have to cancel the event for any reason, for example illness or not having sufficient numbers, we will of course give you a full refund. We will also do this as early as possible – probably around 5 August, a month before the event, so we all have enough time to create something else wonderful.This might happen so if you’re coming from abroad please we suggest you don’t book your flight or other accommodation until we’ve confirmed it’s going ahead.
If you have to cancel, refunds will be
Up to 5 August – Full refund
6-20 August – 50% refund
After 21st August – no refund
Questions?
Not sure if it’s a good fit for you or want to clarify something? Please contact us at hello@playconnect.co.uk
Image credits
Woman on wicker chair and woman pulling a silly face – Toa Heftiba – Unsplash / @heftiba
Young woman laughing in the forest – Jamie Brown – Unsplash / @lightphonics
Bearded man laughing – Kraken Images – Unsplash / @krakenimages
